New App Builds Trees for Adoptees

There is a new iPhone app that looks like it will be a great time saver for adoptees seeking to build a biological family tree. It takes all your Ancestry matches, uses attached trees to find common ancestors, analyzes your Color Clusters, and builds a family tree.

Tools of the Trade

As Genetic Genealogists, we need good tools to accomplish our goals. Here are some of the most popular tools available today.

• DNAPainter by Jonny Perl
• Shared cM Project by Blaine Bettinger
• What Are the Odds? at DNAPainter
• Gedmatch – everything you need is free, but they do offer premium tools for power users
• Genetic Affairs – paid service but generous free credits allow you to try it out. Additional credits are inexpensive and go a long way.
• DNAGedcom – free and paid services, a favorite with adoptees researching biological parents
• Genome Mate Pro – a great desktop tool for tracking cousins and segments and it is still free. It is superior to using spreadsheets but has a steep learning curve.
• Spreadsheets like Excel – Kitty Cooper
• MapS – download a free cM calculator and Build 36 to 37 coordinate converter – I find this nifty little calculator valuable for finding the cM of a segment given the start & stop location